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Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 11/2/16: Time To Go To Work

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.

(Aired 11/2/16)

Time To Go To Work

– Ring Of Honor’s mainstream storyline as Final Battle draws near seems to be a steady “war” between Bullet Club and ROH. It helps BC that they have the ROH World Championship (Adam Cole), the ROH World Tag Team Championships (The Young Bucks) and someone who has the ROH World Television Championship (Hangman Page) on the radar. BC made their quest for complete domination known, plus they seamlessly weaved in Page as an unhinged henchman of sorts, as his main job is to incapacitate Kyle O’Reilly (blood rival to Cole) from World Title contention, their biggest obstacle from complete ownage. The opening video looked at last week’s interaction between Cole/Page and reDRagon, as ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish came to save his partner.

– With Donovan Dijak still in his hometown and Prince Nana at his side, there was more time to establish dominance on the lower half of the ROH totem pole. It was squash hour, as he made quick work of Danny Miles. Dijak slapped away the Code Of Honor and hit three Feast Your Eyes before he got the three-count. It was clear his purpose was to toy around with Miles and he gave in to the fans’ chants of “One more time!” although it also helped that Nana called it for it too. The post-match promo from Nana put over his client, but also did it in a way that cast some possible doubt on him. Is that tension we smell? We’ll see how that develops.

– We got some development in a feud between BC and the Motor City Machine Guns when they got in an altercation backstage when MCMG were offended as they were referred to by YB as “Fragile City Machine Guns.” That was all it took? So touchy.

– The Briscoe Brothers’ backstage promo gave us some nice hype for their matchup with The Addiction to come next. Their main beef with them came from when Addiction cost them the Tag Titles. Liked the line that mentioned although Addiction no longer held the belts, they still had heads that could get taken off. This was your usual Briscoes stuff, which is usually a good thing.

– This was the first time we’d see Addiction after Ladder War VI and it was evident that they wore battle scars. They came out dressed in street clothes with Kamaitachi, as Frankie Kazarian put over their stapled scars. Kazarian was great here, as he spoke of how the match changed their perspective and credited The Briscoes for having a legacy of being eight-time Tag Champs. It was a nice transition to talk about his partner, Christopher Daniels and how he had a legacy of his own as a “founding father.” It was interesting, as Kazarian came off as somebody with a “newly turned leaf” as he didn’t take shots at the fans and only put their opponents and themselves over at the end. It was clear that Addiction weren’t ready to compete and retreated, because there’d be other opportunities to fight. Jay Briscoe got on the mic afterwards and wanted a fight with YB and instead, Cole/Page came out. Cole’s promo here did a good job of reinforcing their group mentality, as he referred to BC as the “new sheriffs in town.” Eventually, Briscoes egged them on and the heels made like they’d retreat too, but ran into the ring and we got a match.

– The Briscoes-Page/Cole match didn’t overstay its welcome and maintained a stiff, yet quick vibe throughout. We liked the DQ finish as it was made clear that the heels weren’t in it for the competition and only to cause harm. Page’s blood that came from the side of his head down added to the visual. Same thing with Jay Briscoe. The fact that reDRagon came down to make the save made sense. We can feel an eight-man tag match coming one of these days. Fish also sold his knee injury well as he gingerly walked.

– Matt Taven’s backstage promo saw him rock blonde hair and hype next week’s debut of his “New Kingdom.” No hints as to who they’d be, but it was a fine hook for the show.

– Jay Lethal’s onstage promo did a nice job as he hyped his rematch with Cole on Nov. 20 in London with a little bit of humor and hard facts. The “I no longer hate your guts” verbiage was strong and tied into his biggest problem with Cole – when he was shaved bald by BC earlier on. We got a taste of the confident Lethal we loved last year.

– Caprice Coleman’s backstage promo gave us last-minute hype for the main event, which wasn’t anything special. He waited to “stake his prize” as a future Six-Man Tag Team Champion.

– The Six-Man Tag Team Tournament Semifinal match between The Cabinet and ACH/Kushida/Jay White was just okay. Overall, it lacked something special. The Cabinet continued their “protests in kneeling” as a heat tactic before the bell and set up the babyfaces to get an early cheer with a simultaneous “up yours” gesture. A big ups to Coleman, whose overdramatic facial expressions and shrieks made us bust out some laughs. Lots of action, especially towards the final stretch, but nothing outrageously memorable. If anything, the set up to the finish was cool as it was ACH who pinned Coleman with his 450 Splash. We’ve actually had The Cabinet grow on us as the weeks pass. It has become clearer as to what their characters are about and their overall purpose. It won’t translate to Six-Man Tag Team Championship gold though, but we imagine they’ll be fighting for it down the road against whomever the Champs might be.

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About Nicholas Jason Lopez

Just a 25 year-old Brooklynite. Nothing more, nothing less.
Currently Freelancing for The Bensonhurst Bean website in Brooklyn, he has also been published on sites such as Review Fix, College University of New York Athletic Conference, Dying Scene, Brooklyn News Service, All Media NY, BrooklynFans.com and Yahoo Voices.
He has also interned for The Home Reporter/Brooklyn Spectator based out of Brooklyn, NY.